There has heretofore been known a pneumatic massage apparatus having a plurality of air chambers to be fitted around an arm or a leg, in which each air chamber is inflated and deflated by supplying and discharging compressed air thereinto and therefrom, respectively, to thereby massage the body. Such a massage apparatus uses an electromagnetic valve system having a plurality of electromagnetic valves for supplying and discharging compressed air into and from the plurality of air chambers, respectively.
Electromagnetic valves used in such an electromagnetic valve system are three-way valves switchable between a position where compressed air is supplied into air chambers of a massage device and a position where the compressed air in the air chambers is released to the atmosphere. Usually, the electromagnetic valves are configured as follows: When a solenoid of each electromagnetic valve is energized, a valve element is moved to a first position with electromagnetic force against urging force of a spring to supply compressed air into the associated air chamber. When the solenoid is not energized, the valve element is held in a second position by being urged with the spring to discharge the compressed air from the air chamber (Japanese Patent No. 3909789).